


Starlight

by Evilquirrel18



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, Reylo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 10:57:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13456776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evilquirrel18/pseuds/Evilquirrel18
Summary: For our beautiful Princess Leia. Rest in peace, space mom.





	Starlight

**Author's Note:**

> Something I wrote for a friend of mine on the one year anniversary of Carrie Fishers death. For our beautiful Princess. You will live forever in our hearts. A true icon of a generation. Rest in Peace Carrie Fisher. 
> 
> valkyriestorm on tumblr is amazing. 
> 
> Posted to my own tumblr page @evilsquirrel18

 

She was gone. Like a beautiful star burning out. She left them like the spring winds. Her enchanting soul was no more. It was a quiet affair, but it left the entire resistance in a state of utter devastation. Her light shined brightly in the resistance that she had become that beacon of hope that everyone looked up to. Their princess Leia. Their general. Their hope.

It was like a gaping hole had been left in the chest of the organization. Rey saw it everywhere she looked. The news had spread like wildfire and all work had stopped all across the camp on the forest planet they inhibited. The moment her heart stopped beating she felt it. A stabbing, roaring pain deep in her breast and she’d had to leave, excuse herself. The others, she was sure thought she had left to grieve. And she was, she had, but this was also something else. Something much deeper.

By the time walked across the camp and reached her hut she was sweating, the back of her shirt sticking to her back. Her face was twisted from the stabs of sharp pain wrecking her body. She slapped the door shut and then stiffened when she saw him. It wasn’t what she had expected, but the closer she got the clearer it became. That pain, that hallow and dead pain in her breast… it was coming from him.

“Ben?”

He didn’t move, had his back to her and his head bowed. He was kneeling much like he had been when she had left him on the salt planet. But she could sense him. She could _feel_ him. Slowly her feet shifted and she was walking toward him. She didn’t know why, didn’t question it. Ben needed her. And damnit, she would be there for him. She didn’t need to see his face to know he was crying. She felt the dampness of her own tears on her cheeks. Instead she approached him and threw herself against his back.

He didn’t tense, nor did he push her away. Instead she felt a shudder rip through his back and a bare hand came up to grip her wrist. He was crying and she _had_ to comfort him. She laid her cheek on the back of his broad shoulder and held him the best she could considering his girth. She still couldn’t see his face, all his dark hair was covering it and she shifted to kneel in front of him.

“Ben…” Came her soft whisper as her brows crinkled and she reached up with one hand to gently swipe his hair from his eyes. “I’m here.” She breathed as she caught sight of his face.

Another wave of despair lurched him forward and she was wrapping both hands around his neck, drawing him in. She felt it all. The raw agony that clenched him. The utter need he felt. She felt it all. The death of his mother had opened up the floodgates and she was there to take the full force of it. His face was twisted as he cried, cried for what felt like hours and Rey was acutely aware that this may have been their longest force bond. He felt so warm against her. So boyish as she held his massive form against her. Not at all what a surpreme leader should feel like.

“I’m too late.” He rumbled against her neck as a fresh swarm of tears dampened the front of her shirt. She squeezed him to her, gently rocking them. She was aware of how he smelled, all woodsy and masculine. She was aware that she hadn’t felt the actual tug of the force. She was aware of entirely too much. This wasn’t the bond, she realized. He was _here_.

“How?” She murmured, trying not to sound alarmed. Kylo Ren knew where they were.

“I’m not here to destroy you.” And then he was pulling back, his red rimmed eyes meeting hers. “My mother was strong with the force.” This wasn’t Kylo Ren, Rey decided, this was Ben. He must had seen the confusion in her eyes because he continued. “When Luke died I felt it as much as you did. I have a bond with my mother– though nothing like what we have– I felt her…. When she became ill. I came as quickly as I could.” His voice broke at the end and his eyes lowered.

Rey was keenly aware that this was the weakest she had ever seen him. She was also aware of what would become of him if anyone from the resistance saw him.

“No one can see me that I don’t want.”

Rey also knew he could wipe his memory from anyone he wished. And he was here. What did that mean? The logical part of her told her that she needed to turn him in but the loyal part of her knew that she simply wouldn’t. Let them have this. Let _him_ have this. He needed it. She reached up and brushed his hair from his eyes again and let their gazes linger. They simply sat there for a long while, staring at each other as they were tangled on her floor.

“Stay.”

Pain flickered in his eyes and Ben leaned in, this time she was certain he would kiss her but instead he pressed his forehead to hers. “I can’t. I have work to do still.”

Rey felt confusion enter her mind and she opened her mouth to ask what he meant but instead he was dropping his head to her shoulder and she decided to save that question for another time. She had seen something in him tonight, a deep vulnerability that she didn’t know had existed. He wasn’t alone. He never would be. Rey knew there was goodness inside of him. Light still in his heart and she would continue to try and pull it out of him.

They stayed that way for a long time until he untangled himself and stood. He had dark circles under his eyes, he hadn’t been sleeping, and crying hadn’t helped his appearance.

“I will give the resistance two weeks before I come back here.” He said it firmly. “I suggest relocating.” He added as the firm expression he normally wore returned.

Rey frowned up at him. “You don’t have to do this.” She urged as she tried a step toward him.

“Yes, I do.” His hand reached out and touched her hair, stroked her cheek. And then he was turning away from her. This time he was walking out the door and not fading. How he was going to sneak out of the base she had no idea but when she didn’t hear alarms sounding she knew he had gotten out. And with that knowledge she was left just as hallow as the hole inside the resistance at the loss of their princess.


End file.
